Punjab Assembly polls: Harsimrat asks people to be wary of AAP, Kejriwal

Former union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal urged people of Punjab to wary of the AAP and Arvind Kejriwal, alleging both were anti-Punjab

Former union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Thursday urged people of Punjab to wary of the AAP and its convener Arvind Kejriwal, alleging both were anti-Punjab and would ruin the state if elected to power.

Addressing a gathering in favour of Shiromani Akali Dal candidates, Badal said, Kejriwal has already taken an anti-Punjab stance on crucial issues.

This includes a demand that the river waters of the state be given to Haryana and Delhi, four thermal plants of Punjab be closed down to reduce pollution in Delhi and criminal cases and heavy penalties of up to Rs one crore be levied on farmers who burnt their stubble in desperation after the Congress government failed to help them to manage it, she alleged.

She also attacked Aam Aadmi Party's chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann, saying the latter was a dummy who did not have the guts to stand up to Kejriwal.

Tomorrow, if Kejriwal orders Mann to sign away the river waters of Punjab to Haryana and Delhi, he would do so immediately to save his chair just as (former Punjab chief minister) Darbara Singh had given Punjab's waters to Rajasthan on the directions of (former prime minister) Indira Gandhi.

She said Mann would also be unable to maintain the decorum expected from a chief minister.

In parliament, several MPs have submitted written complaints to the Speaker stating that their seats should be changed as they could not sit beside Mann who was always smelling of alcohol, she said.

The Bathinda MP also urged people not to be taken in by the appeals of the AAP's ek mauka (one chance).

Punjabis have already given a chance to the AAP in 2017 by making it the principal opposition party. But instead of raising issues of the people, the AAP started supporting the Congress government, she claimed.

As many as eleven out of twenty AAP legislators joined the Congress party. You should not trust such a party ever again, she said.

She asked people to be cautious of the divisive agenda of the AAP, adding that the party was trying to divide Punjabis to wrest control over the state.